DIYing your visual brand is one solution to having a small or non-existent budget when it comes to setting up a new business.
But, before you jump in and start looking at colours, fonts and photos, here’s a few things to consider first:
Brand Values
Do you know what your brand values are? Your visual brand is so much more than just making things look pretty. It needs to reflect your brand values among other things. Some questions to ask yourself are:
• What is important to you?
• What is important to you in terms of your employees and suppliers?
Brand values are incredibly important and when you look at really well known brands you will see they share their brand values on their websites, through their brand story and ensure they’re reflected through their products and services.
Brand value examples include: Honest – Creative – Trustworthy – Sincere – Excellence – Quirky – Fun – Knowledgeable and lots more.
Market Position
Where do you want to be positioned within your marketplace? Have you done a competitor analysis to look at how your competitors are branding their businesses? What colours, fonts and brand style do they have?
Have you looked at your position in terms of a positioning map to see where you are positioned against your competitors and where you would like to be positioned? This will also determine how you could potentially brand your business visually.
Dream Customers
I know dream customers comes up time and time again, but doing really in-depth work on WHO exactly your dream customer is, can be extremely insightful. There’s a few ways in which you could do this, but I’ve found the best way has been to really think of them as the ultimate ‘dream’ customer you would LOVE to work with and who loves working with you.
Look at your dream customers in depth and ask yourself these questions – maybe even journal on it.
How old are they? What do they do? What is their income? Where do they like to hang out online? What are their hobbies and interests? Do they have children? Where do they buy their food from etc. Knowing who your dream customer is can be insightful in terms of knowing which brands they like to buy from and why and how can you reflect those elements into your visual brand.
Your visual brand needs to be in alignment with your brand values, market position and dream customers.
If something is out of alignment then you’ll find:
• You’ll be confused about what your brand stands for
• You won’t know how to stand out from your competitors in a positive way
• You won’t attract the right customers for you.
Once you get clear on the above, then you can start to look at the visual aspects of your brand.
If you would like help on any of the above, then why not join my FREE online community for female entrepreneurs where you will get exclusive access to brand focus workshops on all of the above and more.
